Monday, 31 March 2014

LinkedIn is a social networking site focused on professional networking for businesses and colleagues. The site allows you to connect with co-workers, look for jobs and business opportunities, and join groups based on interests and industries. This article will guide you through the process of adding a Twitter account to your LinkedIn profile.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

If you are planning an early spring wedding, you will have all kinds of great greenery to choose from because everything will be budding and blooming! We found these kumquat branches at the flower market and knew we had to use them! So here you have a springtime wedding swag that we made just for you! These types of arrangements can be great for ceremony backdrops, to hang above entryways or use to adorn interior or exterior barn walls. You could also design one to decorate the front of your sweetheart table. Since you are designing it yourself you can make it the perfect size to fit a hearth, doorway or table depending on how far you want to build out the side branches. One of the best things about these is that you can use florals that you otherwise might not like these awesome kumquat branches! Happy building!

First, cross the stems of the Amaranths and secure with wire. Leave a small open space between where the spires will fall down.

Next, build out from the center, adding stems to either side and securing with wire as you go. You may want to use some floral tape too to keep stray stems from poking up. The more secure the better. It is ok if some of the wires show as you will be covering up the base in a later step.

Step back and see how the arrangement is balanced. Add and takeaway until both sides feel even. You may want to hold it up to see how the spires fall naturally.

Next, add in your kumquat branches. Secure the branches with wire first to one another, and then attach them to the back of the base. Make sure they are secure as they can be heavy.

Once the kumquats are secure, add in the purple filler to the open spaces by slipping the stems under the wires or adding additional wires.

Then, taking your flowering branches, lay them over the base so that they cross and the center. Arrange them so that you cannot see the wires on the base and it feels like a lush archway. If you want to angle them down on either side to create and arch, you may or if you want a straight base for a table or a heath keep them straight.

Next, using some small pieces of the flooring branches and the purple filler, creat a small swag on the side that will be the front piece. Make it large enough to cover the kumquat stems but no so long that it will cover up the fruit.

Secure the smaller swag to the front of the base and stand back to asses the symmetry of your arrangement.

Once it feels right, try hanging it on a wall. Once you see how it falls you may want to make some changes, clippings or additions to make it feel balanced.

At this point you may also want to add some ribbon. We tied some simple white ribbon the the stems of the smaller front swag and turned the knot the face the back.

We left the ribbons hanging down to compliment the drooping spires.

Once you have it perfect hang it in your desired place using extra wire to create a strong loop on the back of the base.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

We love the look of a bare stem wedding bouquet! It really allows the flowers to pop and have a strong presence and it is a great option whether you are using bold flowers or minimalist flowers. Today we have put together a rustic wedding bouquet that makes our eyes so happy! If you are making your own bouquet, you get to pick everything you want and we suggest going stem by stem like we did to end up with the perfect arrangement. Happy arranging!

Start by filling your vase with a few inches of water so that the fresh cut stems will be happy while you work! It is best to use a vase that has an opening that is about the same width as you want your bouquet handle to be. That way you can use it as a guide as you go.

Then, starting with your base flowers, trim all leaves from each stem as you go. Add your base flowers one by one to your vase. You may want to lead extra length on the stems so that you have room to trim them later.

Once you have added some of your base flowers with clean stems, you can start adding in your interest pieces.

Fill in the spaces as you go, turning the vase to get an ideas of how it looks from all sides as you add stems and move them around. You may want to trim stems once the vase starts to fill up so that the heights are correct.

Once you get it to a place where you love the arrangements of all of the stems, grasp them stems and lift the flowers out of the vase. Holidng the flowers tightly, trim the stems to the same length.

Then, take the floral tape and wrap the base of the stems very tightly multiple times. Make sure all of them stems feel secure.

Once the stems are secure, return the bouquet to the vase and add greenery and final flourishes like berries. To do this, slip the stems under the floral tape. This will add to the security of the bouquet by making the tape extra tight.

We added some large pieces of eucalyptus at the end to give our bouquet a rustic feel.

When your bouquet is finished, take a white ribbon and wrap the stem a couple times over the floral tape, and secure the ribbon with a pin, sinking the end of the pin into a stem. You can also tie the ribbon instead if you want to keep the ribbon long, like in the picture above. If you pin it in place it will be barely visible like the picture below. Keep the bouquet in water until you are ready to use it! When you take it out of the water for the last time, just pat the stems dry with a towel to keep you and your dress dry!

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

A new scented candle is always appreciated, but one that is made especially for Mom will light up the room with her happiness.

Turn ordinary
candles into shining stars with family photos and embellishments. Print photos
or digital designs onto tissue paper and cut out the images. Wrap the candles
with the tissue paper and keep it in place with straight pins. A heat gun will
melt the wax until it saturates and coats the tissue paper. A hidden brad
embedded in the candle secures the flowers.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Twitter is a popular social media website that allows users to post "micro-blogs" of 140 characters or less. It began in 2006 and is now home to more than 300 million users. Many of these users are actually businesses that promote sales, customer loyalty and new products through their account. As with most social media outlets, consistency is the key to successful Twitter promotion. It is a good idea to create a personal account and become familiar with the way Twitter works, or appoint someone who will post to your account every day. This article will tell you how to use Twitter as a promotional tool.

1

Create a Twitter account for your business. Make sure it is both the brand name of your company and includes the website name. For example, if your business is called Cooper City Promotions, and your website is coopercitypromo, you would want your account to be www.twitter.com/coopercitypromo.

To set up an account, go to twitter.com and click the "Sign up for Twitter" button. Input your company description, website, location and upload your logo. Fill out your profile as completely as possible, including common search terms that people use to find your company in the bio section.

2

Use your twitter link on all marketing materials, including business cards, letterhead, website, Facebook account, invoices and all other online or printed promotions. On your next email blast, include a section that asks people to find or follow you on Twitter.

3

Master the use of the hashtag. The hashtag is the "#" symbol followed by a keyword. This can be as specific as your business name, such as #coopercitypromo, or it can be keywords that people use to find your business, such as #marketing, #coopercity or #advertising.

Include a hashtag with #deal, #coupon or #bargain, whenever you are having a sale or promotion. There are many aggregate websites that gather all of the day's tweets that include these keywords. Also regularly include any other popular search terms that people use to find your website along with a hashtag on your daily tweets. If you tweet a coupon code, you can track your sales by all the people who use the Twitter-specific code.

4

Find people to follow by using a twitter directory like twellow or Justtweetit.Most Twitter users receive an email when someone new is following them. Add a few people every day, and many people will choose to follow you in turn.

5

Avoid hard sales tactics. Twitter accounts that pressure or only post sales and business-related content rarely keep a large amount of followers for long. Post links and statements that show you are in touch, and on the cutting edge, of industry innovation and standards.

If you have a strong relationship with your local community, post stories and links that support the community, other businesses and organizations. This will encourage people from your neighborhood or city to follow you for the latest updates, and they will receive your promotions at the same time.

6

Encourage employees to communicate with the company Twitter account using their personal accounts or specially-made company twitter accounts.Use the "@" symbol before the Twitter user name to direct message people or mention them in your tweets.

7

Announce all new events or products on Twitter, using product shots and details. Schedule your tweets so that they correspond with press releases for products or events. Make a hashtag for each event, such as "#coopershow."

8

Use Twitter-based contests to promote your product. Many businesses have started to give away large items, like gift cards, phones or cameras to people who retweet or direct message their Twitter account during a day or week. The following are good general guidelines to follow when holding a Twitter contest:

A contest will not have much impact if you have a boring Twitter account. You must first have a strong base of followers to create buzz about your company's contest. Follow new people every day, target people in your area or demographic and put time into creating a fun Twitter presence, and then hold a contest.

Frequent contests of lower value are better than infrequent contests at a high value. Once users understand that you hold regular contests, they are more likely to follow your account on a daily basis, occasionally retweeting your content, and gaining you followers by referral.

Be honest with your followers about what they will win. There were complaints recently when companies said they were giving away iPhones, but they were really sending gift cards.

You can hold your contest in a number of ways. You can offer it to anyone who retweets, anyone who direct messages you, anyone who uses your hashtag, or anyone who responds in a short time. You may want to try different strategies to see what results in the largest increase in followers or response.

9

Follow the "Trending Topics" on Twitter and use these common hashtags when they apply to you. Trending Topics are listed on the right side of the Twitter home page. Don't be afraid to use the hashtag a few times, if you can contribute good content or conversation.

Try to stay away from political trending topics. Kenneth Cole created controversy when he used the #Cairo hashtag to promote his new shoe line during the Cairo riots.

10

Employ a social media service, if you are unable to do all of this promotion within your company. Companies, such as Submitinme or coTweet, provide marketing services that focus on social media outlets like Twitter.

11

Buy a Twitter Promoted Tweet to try to target a new market. Promoted Tweets appear on top of the screen when a user searches for related topics. Go to www.business.twitter.com/advertise/promoted-tweets and use a special link, like 1 created through Google Analytics, to track website activity from Twitter

Friday, 21 March 2014

The latest kitchen trend? Cupcakes in a jar! Or so it was said. I love it! And then I had to think about it. Cupcakes in a jar? Sounds fun. Sounds simple. But as I started to ponder this foodie phenomenon, I began to have more questions than answers…

How do you get the cupcake in the jar? Do you bake the batter in the jar? Will the jar hold up to the heat in the oven? Do you bake the cupcakes separately and then place them in the jars? How do I get the cupcake out to eat it? How long can these cupcakes last? Do I need a big jar or a small jar? Where do I find a small cupcake-sized jar anyways?

..And then I decided to stop thinking and start playing. I liked the idea of “cupcake in a jar” but I wanted to put my own spin on it – the result is my Cupcake Crumble in a Jar. With this recipe, leftover cupcakes get an instant dessert makeover. It’s a cupcake-lovers go-to recipe for “in a jar” fun..

Leftover Cupcakes Get a Makeover.

Leftover vegan cupcakes needed a facelift.

Cupcake Crumble in a Jar

If you love cupcakes, and really who doesn’t, you probably bake them by the dozen, share the freshly made delights, keep them for a day or two and then the fun is over. But sometimes you end up with two or more cupcakes a day later and since cupcakes can dry out rather quickly – you are faced with a terrible predicament: do I toss these cutie cupcakes?? Now you don’t even have to let that thought cross your mind because you can easily whip up my Cupcake crumble in a jar to refresh and moisten leftover cupcakes.

Cupcake Crumble in a Jar

Here is what you will need:

* 2 or more leftover cupcakes – pop off the frosted flat tops (set aside) and crumble up the cake bottoms

* whip up your favorite vanilla or chocolate (or both) pudding

* a clean medium sized glass jar with lid – not too tall (I used a short and stout roasted red pepper jar)